Nobody's Fault But Mine
by the-ghost-has-the-salt
Summary: After the events in 7.02, Cas finds himself alive, but not in the correct year. With Lucifer walking the Earth, will Cas and the Winchesters be able to find an alternate path to stopping or will Cas have to watch as everything repeats itself?


The first thing that Cas realized was that he was missing his overcoat (not a trench coat, no matter what Dean insisted on calling it). In hindsight, this was a strange thought to have, but he had worn the coat for so long the loss of it was noticeable. Taking in more of his surroundings, Cas noted that he was standing alone in an abandoned field somewhere in the American Midwest. However, the angel had no memory of why he would be at that particular location in the first place. Catching a glance at the red and black stains that covered much of the collar of his dress shirt, Cas felt every muscle tense.

It came back to him exactly what had happened before. The monsters he let out of Purgatory; the things that tore at him from the inside out and ripped his essence apart. He remembered screaming for someone, anyone to save him, regaining control of his body to stop the Leviathan from hurting his friends, but ultimately failing. How the Leviathan walked toward the reservoir and how the cold water rushed into his lungs before he lost consciousness. Cas promptly bent over and retched what little was in his stomach. Upon realizing it was mainly the water from the reservoir, Cas felt another heave rack his body, coughing when there was nothing left to bring up.

Cas wiped the back of his hand against his mouth as he felt another wave of nausea hit him. He had broken Sam's wall, killed hundreds of angels, including some of his closest brothers, and potentially killed Bobby or Sam or _Dean_ - and the possibility of all three being dead was almost enough to bring the once mighty angel to his knees. It was then that Cas began to question how he could feel nauseous in the first place; he nearly panicked when he took note of how much the Leviathan had managed to damage his grace. Cas felt the raw and jagged holes in his grace left behind by the monsters' teeth. Somehow he had managed yet again to avoid death, though not without a cost this time. He barely had enough "mojo" to fly; healing would be completely out of reach for his diminished powers. Still, he had to get back to them, to at least try and atone for his sins, because the thought of being unable to do that was almost too much to bear.

First, though, Cas had to locate the Winchesters and their surrogate father. He doubted that Dean would be praying for him anytime soon. The sigils carved into the brothers ribs would make them impossible to find; he should still be able to locate Bobby Singer. When he considered how there last interaction had gone, the angel thought it might not be the most prudent decision to simply "pop in" on the old hunter. That left one method of contacting them. Cas reached into his pants pockets to see if he still had his cell phone. He let out a sigh in relief when his fingers closed around the small plastic object. He flipped the phone open; somehow it was fully charged and undamaged by water. He selected Dean's number, hands shaking as he pushed the call button. The dial tone seemed to blare in his ear as he waited; the phone clicked before: "Cas?"

Cas felt his heart leap to his throat and he had to bite back a cry of joy at hearing his friends voice, if he even had the right to call Dean that anymore.

"Cas buddy? You there?"

Remembering that he had not responded yet Cas stuttered a reply. "Y-yes Dean."

"Good. You had me worried for a second. Need a break from the God search?"

Cas felt his brows furrow together. Looking for his Father? He gave up on that years ago. But before he could reply, Dean continued talking.

"We got a case right now. We're at the Sun'n Sands Motel in Wellington, Ohio, room 124." With that, Dean hung up the phone. Cas pulled the phone away slowly, staring at it with wide-eyes. That was not how he had expected it to go. With renewed hope, Cas carefully placed the phone back in his pocket before taking flight.

_

A/N: This is my first story, so review are much appreciated! Thanks for reading!


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